Cheap air travel is now a given for all of us but back in the early eighties I had my first experience when booking a charter flight to Corsica. I boarded the plane somewhat fearful of the riffraff I might be sat with, to be put instantly at my ease by the sight of BBC TV reporter Brian Hanrahan (“I counted them all out, and I counted them back again”) in the row behind. I looked around at my fellow passengers and all of them looked suitably civilised, a couple of them even wearing Panama hats and holding books – [Read More]

It’s very faddy food isn’t it? By its very nature there are certain tastes and textures we like whilst there are others that we recoil from – and each is purely subjective. What’s more, our palates are constantly changing as we progress from infantile concoctions, such as jam and peanut butter sandwiches, through to that most mature of delights – tripe and onions. The more we dine out the more we seek out novelty, hence, the everchanging fortunes of a range of global cuisine’s that have ebbed and flowed in popularity in recent times. Few, however, have succeeded in entrenching [Read More]

Prior to his becoming one of Britain’s best loved actors – before his ennoblement and winning two Oscars – the early eighties saw the great Michael Caine accept any offered film roles, especially if they took him to exotic locations… His view at the time, apparently, was very much that even though it may not be Pinter, at least it’s a chance to enjoy a well paid holiday at somebody else’s expense – that was certainly the case with “Blame it on Rio” one of his lesser movies. Having said that, even though it wasn’t a masterpiece, it certainly whetted [Read More]